Bird guideEastern Shrike-tit

Green above, yellow below, with bold black-and-white head pattern.

⚠️Not listed
🍃Indigenous: Crested Shrike-Tit

At a glance

FamilyShrike-tits
SizeSmall
RarityCommon
HabitatCoastal waters, beaches, estuaries, harbours, islands, and offshore waters depending on season.
Best timeReported across most months in Victoria, with no narrow seasonal peak.

Sounds

Sound sample
0:000:00
Recorded by Marc Anderson

Range map

Range map

2727visible hotspots
45426visible records
4states
Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

Male has black chin, female dark greenish. Found across south eastern and eastern Australia. Inhabits eucalypt woodlands and some wetter woodlands, where it tears bark noisily, looking for food. Song is loud and includes a descending three-part whistle. Also an accomplished mimic of many other species’ songs. Formerly treated as one of the geographically isolated subspecies of Crested Shrike-tit.

Behavior

The call of the eastern shriketit is a weak, mellow and mournful whistle, sounding like whiert, whit-whit, wheeir . It also makes repeated stuttering or chuckling calls described as "knock-at-the-door", and can perfectly mimic many species within its habitat.

Regional timing

New South Wales
Peak: September to November16,784 records
Northern Territory
Peak: March94 records
Victoria
Peak: August to January21,912 records
Queensland
Peak: August to November4,878 records
South Australia
Peak: March to May971 records
Australian Capital Territory
Peak: November to January782 records
Western Australia
Peak: June2 records
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